Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Saladin was the great Muslim leader who had defeated the Crusaders. He is much admired
in the Muslim world in the same way as Richard 1st of England (Richard the Lionheart)
is admired and romanticised in the West. Both had their moments of great chivalry and
their moments of savagery. When King Richard 1
st
killed 3,000 Muslim prisoners (includ-
ing women and children) after the fall of Acre, Saladin, in reprisal, slaughtered all his own
prisoners of war.
I realized that Saladin's Kurdish background had been seriously de-emphasised and it was
considered unimportant to his admirers. His ability to unite the Muslims into a powerful
and successful fighting force is the trait by which he is remembered. The Kurds of Iran,
Iraq, Turkey and Syria may view him differently, however.
He was also a generous man and he reputedly gave away most of his wealth. He is buried
in his original wooden tomb in Damascus. Many centuries later, Emperor Wilhelm II of
Germany donated a marble tomb, as a sign of his admiration but that lies empty next to the
more modest wooden one.
Scene from the Umayad Mosque in Damascus
